A Lament For The New Age
by PurrOSaurusRex
Summary: Armin Arlert is an extraterrestrial being in a controlled society aboard the space ship Sina, and life is pretty good for him, except for one thing, he wants to see the world outside the ship. One day when a bit of literature causes him to question his society, he finally gets his opportunity, the planet below is a bit more then he bargained for.
1. Chapter 1

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

A blaring sound and the bright burning ball of gas suspended in the star streaked blackness of space glaring through his window alerted him of the hour. It was time to wake up. As he sat up, he stretched his arms above his head, bending his back in a cat like manner till a pleasant sensation rushed through his body, and exited as a yawn. Armin had always been a morning person, it wasn't as if he needed to be up as early as he was, he just enjoyed being awake and taking advantage of the day, at the very least this way he could get to the academy before the usual morning rush. With as many people as there were in Sina, rush hour was crowded and he didn't fancy being knocked around by the hundreds if not thousands of pedestrians that walked there separate ways in the usual morning parade towards there separate workplaces and learning centers, especially today. Blankets were thrown off and the cold morning air graced his skin, feet set on the floor and after a moment he stood, the room was boringly plain and white, with a few meager accents of pastel blues and greens spread sparsely through out the simple floor plan that was his apartment. He grinned sheepishly as he stared into the mirror. He may have liked mornings but his hair certainly didn't. It stuck up in tufts and knots like little blonde birds nests, and fingers combed through it as he started the water and climbed in for a short shower. He knew better than to think that he had any extra time to simply bask in the warm water. He had to get ready- today was special and he, more than any other day, couldn't afford a screw up or be late, that would get him detention if he was lucky, if he was unlucky he would have to copy the entired 103 pages of the Sinarian code of Conduct, just because it was the final day at the academy didn't mean Armin couldn't get in trouble. Armin wrapped the fluffy white towel around his waist and dried himself ask quickly as he could before getting dressed, ironing his dress shirt to pristine crispness, rolling the lint off the freshly washed white pants, pulling on the polished, tall, synthetic leather brown boots, and finally adjusting the collar on the embroidered tan jacket. It was hardly comfortable but it was regulation. He exited the room, locked the door, and began his solitary walk to the school.

He had thought for sure the walk would calm his nerves, but every step set him a little closer to the edge, his stomach was tying in unpleasant knots, choking the butterflies that had been in there way before, he felt like he could puke, but he was able to keep that from happening thankfully. Normally he wouldn't panic over a test. He had flawless grades, there wasn't a single point marked off on his point sheet. But no one was impressed; it was expected of the students. Maybe that was what scared him, even if he got one hundred percent on this test, no one would be impressed, he wasn't even sure what he had to look forward to. What would life be like after school was over? What would he do? Would Armin get the career he hoped for? It suited his talents, sure. But the administrations evaluation might be different then his, and in the end they would decide what his fate was based of those evaluations and his grades. What if he didn't get one hundred percent and lost whatever job he had been assigned before. What if he failed? _I just have to stay calm and I'll be just fine… _Armin thought, taking a second to breathe. He'd been so deep in his panic he didn't notice how dangerously close he was to the market, and before he could come to a stop the sudden sensation of his face hitting a wall and his butt smacking the dry brick road brought him back to the present, a groan escaped his mouth and he scrambled to keep the blue blood leaking from his nose off his clean white shirt.

"Here you are sir" a hand before his face offered him a tissue, Armin took it, gratefully holding it to his bleeding and sore nose. Oh, wonderful, it was a booth.

"Thank you sir, sorry for running into your booth…" Armin looked down the road a bit hoping to determine where he was. The bazaar. This early it wasn't as bustling and busy as it would be in the afternoon, but many of the perfectly spaced apart and cleanly painted booths were set up along the street and open for business. The man who had given Armin the tissue offered out a hand to pull him up, Armin accepted and let himself be pulled to his feet. "I'm sorry if I damaged anything."

"Not at all young man. In fact, you're the first person to notice my little booth, so if you please, I'll give you a free book for good luck. After all, it's a big day for you students." Armin gulped. In the chaos of the moment he had almost forgotten what day it was. "The final exam will decide your future son, so a little luck wont hurt you. Come have a look, you've got time." Armin nodded and entered the booth. It was a plain little booth with a few shelves of synthetic leather bound tomes. Armin handled each book he pulled out of the shelf with the utmost care. Real books weren't exactly rare, but technology was so developed most books lay dusty on a shelf and people read off the much lighter and thinner glass holo tablets they had been assigned, and Armin loved the feeling of the heavy paper and leather mass of words in his hand, it felt more tangible then most things these days. No book especially piqued his interest, until he noticed that book. It was different, while books weren't rare, any book bound with something other then a clean synthetic leather cover were. And this book was hardly clean. As Armin held it in his hand, he ran he fingers carefully over the worn corners of the paper bound spine and cover, and the frayed edges of the paper contained with in it. He looked at the title.

"1984…" he mumbled, opening the book slowly, but before he could even read two words, the hand of a robotic enforcer shut it.

"Illegal material detected. Contraband book detected in the vicinity, revoke ownership immediately," the bot chirped in an emotionless manner. The enforcer bots were meant to enforce regulations and keep the city safe and free of harm, the faceless white masses were shaped just like the Sinara themselves, two legs, two arms and a body with a neck and head they were faceless and only "saw" through lasers that came out of the white blank head on the shining plastic shoulders. They had a few doors, like the hatch in its chest that Armin was now hesitating to place the worn paper covered book in, he took a sharp breath, inhaling in a slight panic.

"Bot, you've made an error, this is the contraband book." Armin tossed another book into the hatch and it closed, his palms sweaty with the panic he felt for what he had just done.

"Thank you for your cooperation, citizen. Please report to the academy for the exam immediately." Seeming satisfied, the bot walked away. Armin was terrified- what the heck was that?! It was contraband! He should have just given it up and got it over with! Now he risked getting in trouble! But just as the eyeless, hobbling bot had said, he had to get his exam; Armin had NO time to worry about it now if he didn't run he would get run over in a crowd of people. He thanked the booths owner, hoping he hadn't seen, tossed the book into a bag and ran off to the academy before the man could reply.

Armin sat in the chair assigned to him, the bell had yet to ring and their were few students even in the room. From his spot he could see most desks. The room was arranged in perfectly straight rows, the room was tall and white with a few windows and a giant clock hanging from the high arched ceiling. Each desk had a glass hologram tablet built into it with the students name streaming across the screen. These pads were used to take notes, read from and take tests on. Today's test had two parts, a mental component, and a physical component. Because they were travelers, every Sinara student was trained in gravity physical education and combat this could range from normal gracity to no gravity, most of the time it was a happy medium, those chosen to be soldiers would help the bots, everyone knew there was another cause but only the elderly knew it, and they were threatened with death if it was ever disclosed. Armin liked to think it was so one day, when they finally found a suitable planet, they would be able to survive it while they explored and settled. Most of his classmates told him he shouldn't bother to think about things like that at all. But it had always been Armin's dream to leave the ship and explore what another world might look like, he wanted to go outside more then anything.

"Mr. Arlert. Please stand at attention." Armin quickly stood, staring at the flickering image of the teachers holograph.

"Yes ma'am." He reacted without a thought, his arms almost move by themselves, one fist to his back and the other over his heart in a rushed salute.

"Students. Recite the Confirmation of Loyalty," the holograph said. And all the voices of the student body joined in one unified chant

_I swear upon my own blood, loyalty to the great lady embroidered to the pocket on my chest, the lady that represent the ship whose back we ride upon._

_Upon my heart, I swear to keep the rules, for the sake of Sina and for our lost brothers on our home planet._

_Upon my very soul, I sweat to protect the colony in times of need, fighting as one with my comrades and never disobeying an order._

_And at last upon my name and the names of my ancestors, I swear to follow the conduct of Sinara to my dying breath, for Peace, Justice, and the Utopia we have been granted._

The final sound was that of the students taking their seats in perfect unison.

"Sign in," said the hologram. "Then proceed to the gymnasium for your physical training exam." After a moment, a chorus of confirmation beeps rang throughout the room, and the students proceeded in an orderly line to the next room, slowly moving forward and taking the training swords and the heavy gear they were each handed, the students remained in the orderly lines. Armin looked around hoping for any confirmation, no one else seemed even a bit nervous, and that just made him panic, though he tried not to show it. The door opened, spreading apart slowly like a piece of ripped paper, and one by one they filed out, immediately. Armin hopped out, falling towards the ground of the gymnasium, the obstacles were set. Without any explanation the alarm went off and the task began. Most students began flinging themselves through the air almost immediately, Armin however surveyed the situation carefully, taking his time pin pointing the task, and carefully mapping out how to get a better view., he pulled the triggers on the sword and flew through the air, coming to a perch on one of the decks coming out of the gym wall. There. Armin saw at the top of the room a box with ten key holes, he knew what this meant. The ten students who got the keys would be in the running for top ten students for sure, while the physical exam was just an evaluation, those keys meant passing for certain. Those students could choose there own career, of course academics were considered as well but even an A on one part would make it easier. Moving yet again via the grappling hook boxes on his hips, Armin sat high up in the room, looking for any out of place obstacle or glimmer of a key. And from what he could tell others were doing the same. Great, so it wasn't going to be as easy as he had thought…. he stared at his potential opponents sizing them up, just as they did to him. Most of them were bigger then him, on top of that he knew for a fact they had better control over this gear then he did, _AND_ they would have the advantage of momentum. Several however were visually impaired so he had a chance of finding a key before them. Armin hopped down to a lower obstacle and looked again. There. he'd found it, in one of the boxes lowest down was a small panel, but as he went to jump down to it, a bigger form flew past him, then another, fantastic. he would actually have to use those bloody swords. he used the gear to give him a boost, and landed on the block, almost as soon as he landed a sword whizzed past his shoulder, he ducked and spun, easily dodging the hit. as he spun he extended his arm, slamming the flat of the sword into his opponent's ribs, the first lost his balance and fell. smacking his head and eliminating himself. The Second of the two stood adjacent from Armin on the block. each looking briefly at the panel then staring the other in the eye, wondering who would strike first. Armin waited, he knew his disadvantage and he'd have to be extra careful if he got the key not to drop it. Armin adjusted his blade in his hand and as predicted his opponent took it as a sign to attack, Armin flew up above his head for a moment then landed behind him, turning on his heel and slamming the blades handle into the attackers neck, the attacker responded by kicking his feet out from under him, Armin stabbed into the block in and attempt to keep his balance, but unintentionally he opened the panel and with a click it flew away from the block, flinging the key into the air and dropping Armin towards the ground. Thinking quickly he pivoted his body and launched the grapples of his gear, retracting them with the triggers and effectively flinging his body through the air with no control past his opponent, grabbing the key in his hand and landing carefully right where he had planned to. In a split second he had been able to map out that move in his head, he guessed the years of training had payed off in the end. He now possessed the key. but the challenge would be getting to the cieling without getting it taken. launching himself once again, Armin used gas, hoping to give himself enough speed to out run his attacker turned pursuer but he ended up nearly slamming into him an obstacle and was caught. Armins elbow slammed back into the attackers ribcage instinctively but all he managed to hit was his arm, the guys hands were on his hips, Armin was unamused he got it now. waiting for him to attack first, wrapping his arms around his hips instead of his chest, This dude though he was a chick. If there was one thing that irritated Armin, it was being mistaken for a girl. This Guy was lucky he didnt react on anger, Armin tried multiple times to kick or hit him, but in the end there was one option and Armin didnt like it one bit, Armin held the sword and stabbed the guy through the arm, the tip of the blade managing to break his own skin as well, he yelped and the guy stumbled back in pain. ignoring his own pain, Armin took off one last time and stuck his key in the lock, claiming the first victory and exiting the room. No One congratulated him, they handed him a bandage and sent him to the testing room. Armin slumped into his chair and slid back, panting and holding his side with his hand. he bandaged it up and took the test on his tablet, he whizzed through it, fingers flying over the answers and keys typing in the nessecary response, maybe it was that he knew the answer, maybe it was the endorphins and Adrenaline pumping through his veins all he knew is that he felt sick and sore and just wanted to finish, his nerves had melted away replaced by the sensations produced in physical training _maybe that was on purpose _he thought, _maybe there testing the limits of our tactical ability, _he wasnt afraid of the grade, he felt on top of the world, like if he could win that battle he could do this. He Clicked End and waited, and once he clicked End, the excitement he felt melted back into a sick panic and more then ever he was sure he would hurl, rather then butterflies it felt like a storm of angry crows fluttered through his stomach. He stared at the screen, palms sweating and shaking, and the rest of his body joined… the loading bar filled and the screen paused… tik… _oh…_ tok… _please…_ tik… _PLEASE GOD…._ the screen flickered

_please please please please please please please….. _

it felt like the longest two seconds of his life. and then…. relief…

**PASS 100 PERCENTILE**

he let out a heavy breath, a nervous relieved chuckle, then a laugh. He'd passed. he passed! he felt like crying, he felt like laughing, he felt SO glad.

" … congratulations." The hologram said. "please report to the infirmary." As Armin got up and walked away. he thought for sure his life could only get better.


	2. An Era Of Question

**A/N hey! so heres chapter two! sorry it took so long**

Armin laid flat against his bed, yawning and grinning foolishly. It had been hours since the exam but not even the poking, prodding and the long procedure for stitches had brought him down. He stared down at the stitches on his rib cage. It was going to scar for sure, Armin didn't really mind, sure it hurt but that was the closest he would get to a trophy. And the cut would stop hurting once in healed anyway so whatever. Armin went to pull the blankets up but a weight somewhere on them.

"Huh?" Armin investigated the cause of the weight, and discovered the all too familiar paper package from this morning's risky escapade. He pulled out the old book and looked at it carefully. What had driven him to do such a thing? Never in his life had Armin gone against code and then suddenly as if by instinct he had broken the most important code out of all of them! But something must have drawn him to this book… and if he was never going to get out of here this book could be the one key he had to a world outside Sina. Armin took a deep breath, locked the doors and windows, closed the blinds, and slowly opened the book. From the first pages Armin was fascinated with the world woven into the text, a controlled society with constant monitoring at all times, a world where everyone was equal, just like his. But this book portrayed it so wrong… what was bad about a society where everyone is equal? This world was perfect in its ideals but in practice, the writer seemed to see it as wrong, Why was that? Armin could easily find flaws in that society, maybe being completely equal wasn't correct, obviously people had to have some differences for a utopia to exist, without variations and talents life could become terribly boring... but all in all it seemed so close to the world he lived in the concept had begun to bore him, sighing, he tossed it back into the paper bag and curled up again under his thick downy covers.

That's night his Dreams filled themselves with a bleak and ruined landscape of the book. but instead of Airstrip One, Armin now recognized the ruined city as the very one he called home, The posters of Big Brother replaced by the Winged patch sewn onto the students uniforms and worn by any self respecting citizen of Sina. Speakers Echoed the Sinarian Code in robotic voices. Every citizen the same. And in his Dream Armin walked the streets of his now crumbling home, hiding among the crowd on the sidewalk that was guided by the clean white bots who were now dirtied with the smog filled air. Armin let himself be whisked with them, and ended up in the school, where rules were drilled into the heads of many minds, all individuality discouraged and crushed, though he had never been here before Armin knew he couldn't appear better than the others, or he would certainly see trouble… eventually Armin could no longer avoid answering the instructors question, and he must've answered incorrectly because he was immediately grabbed and pulled into darkness which he knew surely contained doom.

The dream continued like this, disturbing the blonde Sinarians sleep and eventually causing him to wake before the sun roof over the giant dome protecting the city and signaling night had even begun to crack open. He sighed and tried in vain to go back to sleep… and in the end the only thing he could think of was boring himself back to sleep. He again picked up the book… but this time, something stopped him from putting it back down… Winston Smith. Armin managed to finish the book shortly after the sun started to poke through the cracks in his blinds. Never before had he been so thoroughly stumped by anything… if the government was trying to make a perfect world as they had said, why had they gone to such great lengths to crush the ambition of one citizen, what he pursued had seemed beautiful to Armin, the relationship between Winston and Julia fascinated him… could two people really come together for a purpose other than breeding? It was a strange and foreign concept to him, there was friendship but that didn't quite describe the proper depth of the relationship they had, Friendship wouldn't be something that would encourage sneaking around or breaking the rules. Some part of Armin liked the thought, but the part of him that was so heavily influenced by his society's rules jammed those thoughts to the back of his mind and brought him into reality. He tucked the book away in the bottom of his clothes drawer. Praying it would never be discovered and tried to get his mind off it in general. Unlike the story, Sina had no thought police, but the administration had its ways of getting rid of those they deemed troublemakers. He couldn't shower due to the stitches and because he was still dirtied by sweat from yesterday's exam, according to regulation he couldn't go into town because of that very fact. Regulation 5-6 dated that all citizens outside their living quarters' must be clean and orderly. Armin opened his fridge and Cupboards looking for something to eat, and ended up disappointed, as both were empty. Unable to bathe, out of food. He'd have to call in a favor. And he only had one friend so she'd have to do. Armin walked across his apartment looking for the slim device that was his phone. It ended up being a difficult task and he concluded he should use his spare time cleaning. Armin scrolled through the few contacts on the thin phone till he found the one he needed, he tapped the screen, confirming the call, and held the phone too his ear till the familiar female voice came through.

"_Hello? Do you even realize how early it is?"_

"Hey Annie, I need a favor." Armin responded.

"_What could you possibly need at this hour, Alert?" _she responded in the normal flat tone. On occasion she reminded Armin of one of the enforcer bots, and given her choice of careers that might come in handy.

"Um… you saw what happened during the exam yesterday right?"

"_You mean when you stabbed yourself and got number one on the Exam."_

"Yeah. That."

"_In a tactical sense it was genius but you could've used some of the combat techniques I showed you."_

"I tried. He had his hands around my hips; I was practically being felt up."

"_Maybe if you didn't have such a girlish figure… anyway what's the point of all this exactly?"_

"I have stitches, can't shower, and my food supply is all out"

"_I'm guessing you expect me to get you some food… what do I get out of it?"_

"I was hoping you would do it for me because you were a good person…" Silence. Even though she was outwardly cold, Armin liked to believe she had a good heart, and usually she proved him correct. After a few moments of silence, her answer finally came.

"_fine. But you better make me some tea for when I get over there."_

"Thanks An-"Annie hung up before Armin could respond. He pulled on his casual clothes and went into the kitchen to make Annie her tea, then waited patiently for the knock on the door that would signal her arrival. It was quite a while before he heard the knock but he managed to keep the tea warm for her. Armin smiled when the door opened and his Friend came in, holding the bag in front of Armin's face.

"Your food." She said curtly "I've got stuff to do so…"

"You can't even stay for a little bit? I made you tea." Annie sighed and came into the room. Armin smiled.

"you go book shopping?" Annie picked up the tea, sipping it

"Huh?" Armin followed her gaze to the paper bag now resting on top of the sheets, "oh uh… yeah i did"

"what did you get?" Armin tried his best not to look suspicious

"the um… um…. a cook book…" now she'd know for sure something was up

"you can't cook… what do you think i am stupid? what did you do Arlert"

"I'm just sore thats it." No reply came but he knew better than to think she believed him, his eyes nervously flicked to the books hiding place in the dresser, then he gulpes. She had noticed, and was staring coldly in the same direction. _Crap. _

_"_I dislike lying." She got up and opened the drawer, and stared at the book. "This is what got you so nervous?" Armin didn't reply. Her cold stare bore silently into his soul, making him more nervous by the moment. He nodded, again she stared silently "How did you like it." Armin was surprised, he had thought for sure she would report him

"it was thought provoking…" the answer had been given with caution, if he said something wrong and she did in fact report him, he risked losing everything and being exiled, her reply was silence, and an expectant glance, like she wanted him to say more. He kept his mouth closed. She sighed deeply.

"I read this when i was little. don't worry too much alright." Armins guard didn't drop at all, but he let out another calculated response.

"The world was bleak… but there were parts of it i didn't understand… no one in there right mind would behave the way they do…."

"No Sinarian, but a human." Armin blinked, some how he understood…. but a human, he'd never heard of it… he didn't think he had. "we aren't supposed to know about them. humans, this place is to monitored. meet me underground later." And she left, leaving a confused air in her wake, Armin watched her leave, and then shut his door. He had some preparation to do if he meant to get underground that night.


End file.
